>> can you stay the course? can you do it? >> once i set my mind to do something, i can do it. it won't be easy, but then nothing is. new this morning onmsnbc saturday. more secrets revealed. hundreds of documents made public. does exposing them put troops at risk? president obama waking up in vegas and moving on to minnesota to help out fellow democrats. his trip comes as a new poll suggests dems are closing the

enthusiasm gap. shark attack. a man on a boogie board is killed off the coast of california. what's behind this rare attack? good morning, everyone. i'm alex witt. welcome to msnbc saturday. the group behind the release of nearly 400,000 secret war documents is speaking out this morning. the wikileaks website released the files last night shedding light on some of the darkest episodes of the iraq war. it is the same website that released 77,000 classified documents from the afghan war back in july. veronica de la cruz is here with more. what are the people at the wikileaks website saying about the controversial release of all this information? >> good morning to you, alec. the website released the documents despite the pentagon saying it puts the line of the u.s. troops and their coalition partners at risk. as you just mentioned a short time ago, in london the group spoke to reporters defending the decision to make the classified documents to the public. they say the disclosure is about

the truth. >> we hope to correct some of that attack on the truth that occurred before the war, during the war and which has continued on since the war officially concluded. >> we believe that having received these, wikileaks was right to publicly release these. >> among the 400,000 documents released yesterday are reports of abuse on iraqi forces and the failure to do anything about them. the documents outline u.s. forces failing to follow-up on credible evidence that iraqi forces killed their captives. the material describes america officers as being caught up in a complicated situation where they often could do little but report allegations of abuse to their superiors. although the documents appear to be authentic, so far that has

not been confirmed. >> i'm betting the pentagon has something to say about all this. what's the reaction there? >> before the documents were made public, the pentagon was preparing a team of 120 experts to review the files. jeff morell calls the release shameful and says it could undermine our nation's security. >> thank you, veronica. we'll have more on this. in fact, some of the wikileaks documents reveal new details about the three american hikers detained in iran last year. the files say the hikers were on the iraq side of the border when iranian authorities took them into custody. tehran claims the three illegally crossed into iranian territory. the report also predicted that iran would accuse the trio of spying, which it late irdid. shane bauer and joshua fa tal are still being held. another day of political headlines as both parties begin the final sprint to the midterm finish.

president obama is in minnesota for his fifth rally in four days. he spoke to thousands of supporters last night in nfld where harry reid is locked in a tight race. >> harry is not the flashiest guy, let's face it. you know, harry kind of speaks in a very soft voice. he doesn't move real quick. but harry reid does the right thing. >> rudy giuliani is out on the campaign trail trying to boost support for pat toomey. he wants the u.s. democracy to follow europe. >> his opponent could be the only person i know in this entire country that wants to go further than obama, pelosi and reid. i don't know how much further you can go without falling in the ocean. >> well, the quinnipiac poll

shows toomey with a two-point lead. and sarah palin targets the tea party. she made a surprise appearance yesterday at a rally at the arizona capital. >> it is thanks to you we have the opportunity to turn things around, put it back on the right track. i thank you so much for always doing this. god bless you. november 2nd we can see you from our house. let's take america back! emmy hiles is a staff writer for roll call. i want to get your impressions about the president. there's a lot playing out here. are there signs the president's efforts to get out the vote are working? >> reporter: we won't know that until people turn out to the polls, but i think that from the crowds he is getting the good response. i think he's trying to recapture some of the campaign trail magic that he woed not too long ago and tried to get the crowds excited again. democrats are feeling very down.

this is not the same feeling they had a few years ago. and i think that, you know, the u.s. speech he made yesterday is a big turnout. and people are getting excited. i think he does have the magic still left and is trying to get the feeling back. a little tougher race this time, though. >> to what do you attribute the toughness of the races? is a lot of it traditionally that midterms don't bring out the youth vote, despite what we saw on the campus of usc yesterday? >> reporter: there are so many factors at play here. midterms generally are not as big of a turnout for young voters. also, i just think the economy is the biggest overall factor here. and i think that's what's been dogging democrats everywhere, is this economic downturn creating a perfect storm for them. but yes, there are a lot of factors at play there, but i think that's the biggest one. >> in fact, there are a lot of suggestions out there that races are tightening in the final days, that includes the races in pennsylvania and california. is that to be expected at this stage in the game, or has

something changed? >> reporter: yes and yes. both are yeses. races tend to do that in the final days, but democrats have done a bit better at rallying their bases. i think the president's involvement has done a little bit of that, and i think his speaking to the base might be tweaking those numbers just a little bit. >> what do you think it is going to come down to in the last ten days, is it going to be attack ads? is it going to be fund-raising and spending money and putting it all out there. is it also the possibility of a huge gaffe on the campaign trail to weigh in on how voters go? >> reporter: yes, yes and yes. spending is key here, ad blitzes and the ground operation, getting folks out to the polls is really going to be the big determining factor in some of the very, very tight races. all those things do play in to

who shows up and how they vote. >> emily, thank you so much. a great way to start the day. in california a 19-year-old is dead after his leg was bitten off by a shark while body boarding in the water. the boy cried out when he was attacked by the shark but then vanished under the water. kristen dahlgren has this story. >> reporter: it was just before 9:00 a.m., 19-year-old lucas ransom was boogie boarding in ana santa barbara. >> he saw his friend go under, then he came up and was attacked by a shark. >> his friends pulled him to shore, but it was too late. >> the fire personnel responded and pronounced him dead at the scene. the boogie board was also recovered which had a large bite taken out of it. >> reporter: this is that boogie board, the bite more than a foot white. shark expert steve blare.

>> this was a big shark to inflict this kind of a wound. it was probably a great white. they are not very common in california. >> reporter: experts say there's a greater chance of being hit by lightning. there have only been a dozen fatal shark attacks in california since the 1920s. >> i've been in the water lots of times and never dreamed there was a shark out there. >> reporter: officials are still trying to figure out what kind of shark attacked ransim. the beach at this air force base and surrounding areas were closed as a precaution for three days due to flooding while a community begins to mourn. a uc santa barbara junior, brother and friend. authorities in virginia are trying to determine the cause of a fire to destroy a historic chapel in alexandria.

it left the 129-year building in ruins. officials say all stain glass windows were lost. fortunately, no injuries were reported. a report by the centers for disease control confirms the nation's first known case of hiv infection through a blood transfusion in eight years. the record published on friday says a colorado man was infected with hiv after receiving a tainted blood transition in 2008. the cdc says the do nor, a man in missouri, lied about his sex life. such a thing is rare with several safeguards in place. ments massive hail hammering parts of west texas. you'll see golf ball-sized hail. the huge ice chunks fell right near lubbock. the hail cost damage to the cotton crops. for a look at today's forecast, we'll go to bill karens.

good saturday morning to you. we are watching tropical storm richard. who days ago there was a chance it could head near florida, but that's no longer the case. it is pretty much etched in storm it will stay further to the south down near nicaragua and honduras. it will head for baa lee in the days ahead. it will be so close to land it won't become a hurricane and should dissipate over mexico. when it gets into the gulf, it doesn't look favorable to redevelop. that's good. all the action is away from the united states. tropical storm richard is a problem for honduras or belize, but not the u.s. we have two huge storms through the middle of the country bringing rain for chicago and areas of wisconsin early this morning. and thunderstorms down near oklahoma and texas. then a monster storm on the west coast with strong, gusty winds, high elevation snow and a lot of heavy rain. here's a look at one of the stories, moving from iowa to

wisconsin. on and off rain for chicago through the state of nil during today. the east coast looks fine today. the middle of the country is stormy. the east coast is dealing with a big rain and wind event. back to you, alex. thank you, bill. caught on camera, a criminal act that victimizes children who are in a fight for their lives. but will he get away with it? and up lindsay lohan may want to consider herself -- we'll tell you all about it. frequent heartburn ?

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the group behind the wikileaks website is speaking out this morning defending releasing their documents from the iraq war. they posted them online outlining how u.s. forces didn't follow-up on credible evidence of prisoner use by iraqi forces.

jim is live from washington, d.c. good saturday morning to you. first, reaction from the pep oregon there. what is it like there? >> reporter: the pentagon military officials are trying to minimize the fallout from all this by saying, look, nothing in the documents is anything new. it has all been reported before in some form or another, but the fact is we've never seen this much detail with this much grim detail about some of the operations there in iraq. for example, you were talking about prisoner abuse. the documents reveal that not only did the u.s. military know that iraqi security forces were beating, torturing and murdering detainees, but u.s. military forces, the guys with the guns on the ground, were given specific orders not to intervene. now, pentagon officials say that the information about that prison abuse was passed on to iraqi senior military officials, but it is clear that almost nothing was done about it after

that. there were also reports that there were more civilians, 66,000 civilians killed in a five-year period. more than had been previously acknowledged by any official organization. in fact, even though those numbers were in official military documents, the pentagon claimed they were not keeping the numbers. and there's one more longstanding concern about what the documents reveal. the interference for meanting the civil war that burst out and almost brought the country down was more extensive than anybody had ever known and actually continues today. >> so jim, what about that which was said by the wikileaks folks in london this morning. what else are they saying? >> essentially, they are defending their release of the documents. and their history goes back not to only release pentagon documents but documents about

other governments and other countries and down to penny scandals and the like. they have claimed their desire is to get at the truth. the problem according to pentagon officials is that this really does reveal some of the raw tactical operations and techniques by the u.s. military. that the enemy could exploit in future connotations if they know how the u.s. military is offering. it does put the troops at risk and could eventually risk national security. for now what the pentagon is trying to do is minimize the fallout from all this and the possible threat to national security, our troops anyway or some of the iraqis working with the military during the iraq war. >> thank you so much from washington, d.c. seven states in ten days. it is a push by president obama with the midterm elections a

week away. the president is going coast to coast to try to keep his party in power. >> let me tell you, las vegas, you have not forgotten, i have not forgotten, we are not going to buy what they are selling. that is the choice we have in this election. >> mike is joining us live from las vegas. i'm curious, have you gone to sleep yet or -- i'm just kidding, it is 4:18 out there in the morning. mike, the rallies are a pep talk for supporters, or is the white house really trying to target voters sitting on the sidelines? >> reporter: well, i think there's a bit of both of that, alex. certainly, they are not mutually exclusive. i came down here after a few hours of sleep and there were still people partying. we are in las vegas and it is the middle of the night. thank you for bringing that up. the president is culminating the four-day trip through five days.

last night here in las vegas his democratic leader from the state, harry reid, is in big trouble. he has the republican candidate, the tea party favored sharron angle. a new report out by "the los angeles review" says he's down two points. a tough region where nevada is number one in bankruptcicies in the country, number one in unemployment and number one in a lot of economic indicators that are certainly not good. and harry reid being a long-standing member of the senate i have to say what is a ferocious anti-incumbent. the president has had huge rallies along the way in seattle and portland yesterday on the campus of the university of southern california, some 3,700 we are told by campus police there. the number given to us by the democratic national committee. they are eager to let us know

how bad the crowd are by details. >> he's talking on college campuses and is building a fire wall. patty murray is in serious trouble. ditto for barbara boxer and harry reid here. if they can keep the three seats, keep the democratic control because they are going to lose a lot of other seats around the country. republicans need a net gain of 10 to win control of the senate. the house at this point is pretty far gone. the president does continue now to minnesota where he'll campaign for the gubernatorial candidate mark dayton later today and more travel on the schedule. he goes to rhode island, philadelphia, cleveland, and chicago to try to close the deal with voters. make a difference in some of the race countries. some of these key states could

sway the election. it may make the difference between losing the senate and limiting losses on the house side. >> mike, thank you very much. you won't be seeing lindsay lohan for a while after a latest courtroom drama. we'll show you where she'll be, but she's not the only star in trouble with the law. randy quaid and his wife are in hot water. we'll explain that coming up on msnbc saturday. i don't want you going out on those yet. and leave your phone in your purse, i don't want you texting. >> daddy... ok! ok, here you go. be careful. >> thanks dad. >> and call me--but not while you're driving. we knew this day was coming. that's why we bought a subaru.

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it is try, try again for the post office and its pursuit of a two-cent rate hike. the agency says it needs the money to offset a $6 billion los. much of it the result of lower mail volume thanks to the internet. but for now the price of a first-class stamp remains 44 cents. well, she didn't want to go back to jail and didn't want anymore in-patient rehab, but lindsay lohan has been ordered to stay at the bettyford center through the end of the year

despite claims that remaining in treatment would be a financial hardship. we'll get the details on that and all your entertainment headlines now with kim. good morning to you. >> good morning. >> january 3rd, no ifs, ands or puts, this is where lindsay is going to stay? >> everyone thought she could go back to jail. that's initially what the judge said. if you violate this probation, you are going back to jail for 30 days. actually, the assistant d.a. in court yesterday said she wanted lindsay to go to jail for 180 days because this a pattern with lindsay. she violates who bags and goes into a program. she said she wanted to stop it and get through to lindsay. so she's very lucky she made an impression on the judge and wrote him a handwritten letter. apparently, we don't know what was in the letter, but it made an impression and the judge thinks she now admits she's an addict, which is what everyone wanted all along. and now something is finally getting through to her.

>> but if she screws up -- >> if she screws up, 180 days in jail. no second chance. she has gotten a third and fourth choice already. if you make it to january 3rd and come to the next hearing and have not tested positive for drugs and obeyed all of the laws, then basically this is done. then you are done, you're free and clear and can go on with your life. february 25th. that's all she has to make it to. >> here's hoping. >> the movie she is talking about was to start in november. this is the "love lace" movie. the director is moving it from louisiana to los angeles. he says he wants to do this and finish it when she's out of rehab in january. >> maybe this is a comeback vehicle, you never know. we'll get to russell branyan

and katy perry getting married today. >> they have invited guests there. they are doing trips through the animal wildlife sanctuary. they are staying in the beautiful resort. it will be a really great affair, but there was a run-in with news photographers. and a.p. photographer was following russell going on a safari. allegedly, the photographers were attacked by russell's bodyguard and a wedding guest taking the keys from their jeep, attacking the photographer, leaving them standed in the wildlife sanctuary with tigers roaming around. >> that's not cool. >> no. we'll have to see what is the result of that, but that's what the allegations are. this happens all the time when you have a big wedding that's getting a lot of publicity. you obviously have people that want to get pictures of them. but these were news photographers, they weren't paparazzi. >> i'm going to have you come back to talk about randy quaid and his wife, but hold it for

right now. tune in for that in a bit. thank you, kim. if you are one of those people who don't like to wear a helmet when you ride your bike, some help could be on the way. two swedish inventors came up with an air bag on your collar that becomes viewable in an accident. they do say it is reliable. wait, ready im, impact. i don't know.

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it's msnbc saturday. i'm alex witt. 32 past the hour, here are the fast five headlines. we start with a developing story out of western afghanistan where a suicide attacker in a car full of explosives attacked the united nations compound. it destroyed a gate allowing three militants wearing bomb vests to run right into the building. a u.n. official says no staff members were hurt. we'll bring you more details as

they become available. president obama wraps up the four-day swing with a stop in minnesota today to stump for the democratic candidate for governor. the president led a rally in nevada last night for senate majority leader harry reid. overseas typhoon migi is walloping parts of china forcing 300,000 people to evacuate their homes. and workers in france continue their strike over the plan to raise the requirement age from 60 to 62. and back here in the states, the fdic has taken over seven banks making 139 bank failures this year. those are your fast five headlines. the u.n. is calling for the white house to investigatorture accusations stemming from the latest document dump of classified materials to on the site of wikileaks. 400,000 classified documents were released last night, and the documents suggest the u.s. ignored torture and abuse by iraqi allies against suspected

insurgents. they put the civilian death toll 15,000 above any previous estimates as well. joining us from seattle, we have retired army general list barry mccaffrey. thank you for being here, general. >> good to be with you, alex. >> we'll get to how damaging this is to the u.s. military strategy and what you make of all the allegations. >> well, of course, it is important to remind our viewers that these allegations are relating to iraqi police and iraqi army and militia. so there's a giant civil war raging in iraq. we tried to tap down, ultimately successfully during the civil war, thousands were murdered and maltreated. these are tactical reports at the bottom of the chain of command observing this civil war. it is complete nonsense. we actually stop the fighting

eventually or tap it down. you know, there was just no way to control this. this is sectarian violence at its worst. >> general, there are those who say the fact that the u.s. military had orders to ignore anything they would see along this front, in other words, not to get involved in issues between iraqi insurgents and iraqi police as you essentially point out there, anything about that not make sense to you, or is that property come property come? >> i don't think we were told to ignore it at all. the units were observing and reporting and that's coming out of the several hundred thousand tactical messages going back to the chain of command. and in many cases they would stop it if they were a direct confrontation, but in terms of a resting in the militia people in total, we were sending out a powdered keg to try to tap it down. that's how general petraeus and

the brave troops were able to stop the intense fighting. >> how about the concern about this huge volume, a magnitude not seen like this in terms of police, is there a dangerous precedence being set here? >> oh, yeah. i think we should stop kidding ourselves. they have to go back and rethink how we control digital information available over the internet. i think the notion of a multiagency coordination is good, but we can't allow what allegedly happened is a low-level u.s. military soldier got access to diplomatic cables and was able to vacuum up the material and put it out to unauthorized sources. we have to go back and rethink that. this is a giant vulnerability for us protecting national security information. >> this private first class bradley manning is accused of having done so in the first document. you think in all likelihood has

stemmed from his access this time around? >> well, i think the investigation will have to reveal that, but at the end of the day if he could do it so could others. we have to go back and look at our system and make sure you have it need to know and come pat rt information. >> if we are being probed constantly by the chinese, the russians and others. >> i want to switch gears to get you thoughts on the u.s. military deciding to agree to a $60 billion plan with saudi arabia to help with threats to its borders and to the oil infrastructure. any chance this is something we'll regret, selling $60 billion in arms and equipment to saudi arabia? >> no, i think this is secretary clinton engaged and trying to come up with an alternative strategy to hemming in the iranians. the iranians are going nuclear.

the israelis are a threat to survival because of it. and we are now building a coalition of arab states to hedge in iranian aggression. the saudis, all the gulf coast stays. the oil shifts from the persian gulf. i think this is a good thing to build a balance of power in the middle east and try and wait the iranians out. >> general barry mccaffrey, a mr. speaker. thank you for the early morning wake-up call. >> yeah, good to be with you, alex. a california mother is mourning her son who was killed by a shark as he surfed the waves. 19-year-old lucas ranson and his friend were surfing yesterday when a shark attacked lucas and bit off his leg. he was rescued from the water, but it was too late. >> the fire personnel responded

and pronounced rancin dead at the scene. the boogie board was also recovered with a large bite take up out of it. >> shark attacks are rare. there have only been a dozen that have been fay tall. a bombshell in the case of a missing oregon boy. documents say kyron horman's wife may have caused unimaginable harm to his son. kyron was 7 years old when he disappeared on june 4th. so far, no suspects have been named. terri horseman is the last person to have seen him before he vanished. the search for a missing 10-year-old cancer survivor is intensifying this morning in north carolina. zahra baker disappeared a few

weeks ago and now lawmakers are looking through a landfill. let's get to the latest on the search in the landfill. what do you know about this? >> the search took place earlier this week. 15 to 20 investigators were out there combing the landfill and looking for clues. the search wrapped up yesterday. it appears that they may have found some nuggets of what they were looking for, but it was interesting how they traced the area where they were going to set their sights on. what they did was they got with the local garbage company in the area, they tracked the routes, they figured out the time and the date and the place and the landfill. then they started digging from that point until they got to the neighborhood and area where she lived and figured out the neighbor's trash compared to trash. they were looking for a specific piece of evidence, not so much a body. >> can you tell me why they have called off the amber alert?

do you think we are past that stage? >> amber alerts require specific criteria and specific information about a suspect, a vehicle, descriptions, things of that nature. and i think investigators and the sheriff spoke out to say this, they had enough information to say, you know what, this really isn't an amber alert. this may not be a stranger abduction. we have shifted this to a homicide investigation, so our team is moving in a new direction. >> what about zahra's stepmother behind bars for obstruction of justice in this case, police are accusing her of writing a fake ransom note? >> it appears she may have actually admitted to writing that ransom note. and she was behind bars with an appearance earlier this week, and her lawyer requested for a reduction in bail. and the judge was like, i don't think so. he raised her bail from $40,000 to $65,000 to keep her behind

bars. it appears she will not be able to post that. and it helps to build their case. i sort of imagine this in the investigative room wm a huge white board. they are blocking out the different anythings that happened. this is the key we are missing. this is the other key we are missing. that's why they went to the landfill. that's why they have to go back to reinterview people and find out where she is. >> thank you for the latest update there. >> have a good day. >> you too. two mortgage lenders will resume foreclosures next week for more than 100,000 homes. does that mean all the foreclosures were properly investigated like they should have been in the first place? [ wind howling ]

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t. rowe price. invest with confidence. first he was caught on camera and then by police. this surveillance video from a detroit-area restaurant shows a man stealing a canister for donations to help children with leukemia. thanks to the video someone recognized him and called police. the container had about $60 in it. air force one is tacking on more miles today as the president takes his campaign push back out on the road. he'll be in minnesota today after stops in oregon, washington, california and nevada. the president addressed thousands of college students in los angeles with echoes of his presidential campaign. >> just like you did in 2008, you can defy the conventional wisdom. the conventional wisdom that says young people are apathetic.

you have the chance to say, yes, we can. >> also in california an all-time record for political spending. the race for governor between meg whitman and jerry brown is now the most expensive in state history. combined the candidates have spent nearly $87.5 million just since july 1st. when you add in their primary races, that number jumps to $188 million. much of that has come from whitman who is drawing heavily on her own personal fortune. president obama could be facing a tough political landscape next year with republicans poised to make major gains in november's gubernatorial elections. but it is a different story in texas where a lone star surprise could oust gop governor rick perry. janet has this story from houston. >> reporter: hey, alex. good morning from houston. we have got the longest serving governor in the history of this deep red state, rick perry

facing a surprisingly strong challenge from the former mayor of houston, bill white. as a time when several democratic governors are fighting to hold on to their seats, here in texas a democrat could pick up one. in left-leaning texas, the home of two former republican presidents, the idea a democrat could take the state's top job would once be unthinkable, and experts say it is a real horse rails. >> texas is a read state, so the fact we have competitive gubernatorial race is something of a surprise. >> reporter: rick perry has been chief executive since george bush left for the white house 11 years ago. he's the classic image of a wash buckle texan. "newsweek" called him a marlboro man. >> reporter: challenger bill white, a popular two-term mayor of houston who gave a national profile after hurricane katrina after he opened a shelter in the astrodome pulled within striking distance. >> i'm sorry of seeing a nation

in minimum wage cuts. >> reporter: texas now feels the effects of the recession. a $20 billion budget gap and a jump in foreclosures. >> there is a win in the state to want fresh blood and leadership in austin, somebody who is in it for texas. >> reporter: perry has made a name for himself by bashing washington. >> we believe that texans, not federal bureaucrats know what's best for our state. >> reporter: while this anti-incumbent mood has helped republicans nationally, in texas it has been the opposite. >> this is the closest governor's campaign since george bush and richards back in 1994. for texas this is a strange thing, it is a very competitive governor's race between -- which we haven't had for almost 20 years. >> reporter: with unemployment still low compared to the national average but trending up, a rare opening for a democrat but can he seal the deal? the latest polls are showing rick perry had anywhere from

five to eight points ahead at this point, but there are still a lot of voters undecided. back to you. >> thank you for that. america is one step closer to sending civilians into space with the completion of the very first runway at the world's first commercial space port. the celebration yesterday marked the milestone in the southern new mexico desert. it is the vision of richard branson who says technology is all that's needed before tourists can about 9 to 18 months. pretty cool. ♪ ♪ yes! ♪ look, they fit! oh my gosh, are those the jeans from last year? how'd you do it? eating right...whole grain.

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that's got a few people trying here in new york city. but indeed, they are for the

first time in team history, the rangers have beat the new york yankees last night, 6-1. as you can see, the rangers won before a jewel land home crowd. the rangers are going to play in the world series against either the philadelphia phillies or the san francisco giants in the nlcs. the government is investigating how mortgage companies evicted struggling borrowers for their homes. several banks are accused of signing off on documents without reading them and all 50 attorney generals are banding together to investigate. good morning. >> good morning. >> what do you think investigators are going to find when they pull all those documents? >> this is the good question. it will determine whether this blows over after a few weeks or whether it will become a much bigger pb. this could threaten another

housing bust or trigger another recession. what they're looking for is were these foreclosures basically legal? we've heard these are mere technicalities that hung up their foreclosures, but the question is was all the documentation in place that gave the banks the legal right to do the foreclosure? these are the loans that got secure advertised, bundled into a security and sold from one investor to another. and the real question is did all the legal rights needed to go through those loans transfer throughout the process? that's what they're trying to figure out right now. >> so ad as bad as it is thus far, are you worried that it's going to get worse? and how do you solve the problem? >> the problem now is that this has gone beyond the control of the banks. so nobody was really paying much attention to this. now what's likely happened is lawyers have awakened to the possibility that this might be fruitful for litigation purposes. it's good that it's become politic sized. what needs to happen is the task force of attorneys needs to do a thorough, but a very quick

investigation that's going to say we either found some problems, here's what they are, we're going to deal with these over here or we've looked at this thoroughly enough and we've decided for the most part this is okay. the biggest threat is that these foreclosures get bogged down. we're talking about something like 2 million homes in foreclosure and this could represent about 25%. that's a lot of homes. if you take those off the market and they say let them sit there, this whole problem is going to get worse and it's going to take that much longer for the whole thing to conclude. >> while these investigations are under way, you've got places like bank of america saying they're going to go ahead and push through on these 00,000 foreclosed homes. gmac saying they're going to use similar techniques. but the investigation is still going on. >> that's right. but the investigation does not preclude them from doing their own foreclosure. i don't think we're completely taking the banks at their word. i think we have our fingers crossed. in their own self-interest,

they're saying we would not be going ahead with their foreclosures if we knew we were going to be liable on the other side. that may be a good sign. but again, this is going to get investigated. we are talking about thousandes and thousands of mortgages that got split into pieces and it's hard to do this quickly, which is why there's skepticism that bank of america can investigate. so people are scratching their heads saying, how in the heck do we pull that off? the irony about this is that many of these foreclosures, these people can't afford their homes no matter what. that's not likely to change. t so the real question is if the banks don't have the right to foreclose on people who can't afford the home, what happens then? and if we end up with a significant number of homes that fall into that category, this is going to last a long time and it's going depress the housing market longer than it needs to. >> oh, boy. >> that's a problem. >> that is a problem. we'll be back, everyone, in our next hour to discover five myths about the nation's economic

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